The Warren County School District discussed curriculum and course offerings at its Monday meeting.

Elizabeth Kent, supervisor of Secondary Education Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, addressed staffing of courses with fewer than 12 students. “We have student requests in late winter; from that, we develop needs based on how many students request courses,” she said.

Kent explained staffing classes with under 12 students is not a standard protocol. It happens due to unpredictable circumstances that lead to classes being held with fewer than that number.

The differences occur when students request courses in the winter. Variations happen because of schedule conflicts with courses and because students change their minds about a course and ask for schedule changes at the beginning of the year.

Kent also addressed a previous request to identify potential course offerings in a combined school setting. Projected additional offerings would create new opportunities for every secondary student in the district.

Board member Stephanie Snell commented, “We are worried about all these course offerings, AP and all that, and from what I have seen, we aren’t giving them a basic education. …We are so worried about these advanced classes.”

Board member John Wortman also commented on adding course offerings to students, saying, “There are fewer course offerings today than when I graduated 12 years ago. I feel this issue has also had a very detrimental effect on Warren County as a whole. If you look at areas where population growth occurs, one of the driving factors for growth is educational opportunity. …I do not feel we are being as competitive as we can be in this area.”

Lynn Shultz, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, informed the board, “(Pennsylvania Department of Education) did inform us that we will be awarded the 21st Century grant after all. They found the money, and we were next on the list.”

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant is for five years and provides after-school and summer programming.

“We will be working hard to make sure that all that needs to happen to get that program in place by March,” she said.

Wortman stated, “It’s not that PDE found the money; they wouldn’t have found it without the advocacy that every member of the WCSD staff fought for to ensure that we would receive these funds. We are eternally grateful as a board for all the work you provided to make this a reality, and so many students will benefit from that work.